Text 8 IMPEACHMENT

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other Court Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Article II, Section 4

The delegates decided rather quickly on the procedures by which a president could be impeached (charged) by the House of Representatives. Debate occurred on the question of who would prosecute the president - Senate, the House, or the Supreme Court? Eventually the Framers settled on trial by Senate since the justices would be appointed by the president and would also be involved in criminal proceedings afterwards.

In early June, Dickenson suggested that Congress be able to remove the executive if requested by the majority of state legislatures. Madison and Wilson contended that this gave too much power to the small states. Sherman suggested that Congress have the power to remove the executive at its pleasure, but Madison argued that then the executive would be nothing more than “the mere creature of the Legislature.”

A tentative agreement was reached under which the executive would be removable “on impeachment and conviction of mal-practice or neglect of duty.” But during the debate on reeligibility, Morris noted that “the Executive shall also be impeachable. This is dangerous part of the plan. It will hold him in such dependence that he will be no check on the Legislature, will not be a firm guardian of the people and of the public interest. He will be the tool of a faction, of some leading demagogue in the Legislature.” Morris suggested short terms and reeligibility as an alternative to impeachment, believing that the executive “can do no criminal act without coadjutors who may be punished.”

When the Committee on Detail was handed the impeachment issue, Randolph wrote that “ the House of Representatives would try and the Supreme Judiciary would convict.” The full committee narrowed the scope of impeachment offences by replacing the “mal-practice or neglect of duty – the chiefly political offences- with” Treason, Bribery, or corruption”- offences primarily criminal in nature. The Committee on Unfinished Business later changed the impeachment process, vesting the power to convict in the Senate. Morris, a member of the committee, explained the impropriety of the conviction by the Supreme Court, since the Court would try the president for criminal offences after the impeachment trial.

As the convention drew to a close the scope of impeachable offences was expanded to include “things” political. Mason was uncomfortable with impeachments limited to treason and bribery and recommended extending the power of impeachment to include “maladministration.” But Madison objected, stating that “so vague a term will be equivalent to a tenure during pleasure of the Senate.” Mason then substituted “other high crimes and misdemeanors against the State,” which passed the convention.

The word impeachment means to charge, to accuse. The Constitution gives the House the power to bring charges through articles of impeachment and the Senate the power to try all impeachments. It takes a two-thirds majority to convict a president of these charges. The full House votes on Judiciary Committee’s charges and then appoints managers (prosecuting attorneys) to argue its case in the Senate. The Senate becomes a tribunal for the trial, with the chief justice of the Supreme Court presiding. The chief justice rules on whether the evidence is admissible but can be reversed by majority vote. And, given the seriousness of their actions, all senators are sworn to a special oath above their oath of office: ”to do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws.”

The ambiguity of what constituted an impeachable offense became the focal point of Richard Nixon’s presidency in 1973. Could a president be impeached for a crime against the spirit of the Constitution, or was proof of a criminal offense needed? The House impeachment hearings were carried out with great care; most of the nation’s adult population reported having watched at least part of the proceedings during the long “Watergate Summer.” Five articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon were considered; the first three passed the House Judiciary Committee. They were Article I, Obstruction of Justice; Article II, Abuse of Power, Article III, Ignoring Congressional Subpoenas; Article IV, Concealing Information from Congress on the bombing of Combodia; and Article V, Tax Evasion and Emoluments.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-30